Inventory Crunch Over? More Homes Are For Sale

Inventory Crunch Over? More Homes Are For Sale

Daily Real Estate News |
Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Inventory levels are on the rise nationwide, which could soon mean the severe inventory shortages plaguing many markets the last few months may soon be nearing an end, according to the latest report from realtor.com®. As home prices rise, more sellers may be testing the market, helping to increase the options for home buyers.

Realtor.com® reported that 1.96 million homes were listed for sale in June -- the highest number since last September.

The markets that posted the largest rises in the number of homes for sale compared to one year earlier were:

Atlanta: inventories rose 17.9% year-over-year

Sacramento, Calif.: +16.7%

Los Angeles: +6.8%

Orlando: +2.8%

All four markets have also posted strong gains in home prices the past year, realtor.com® reports.

“At the current pace of sales, the supply of homes for sale is still very low, suggesting price gains are likely to continue,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “But the months supply is up slightly in a growing number of markets. This could actually boost sales — a major complaint of home shoppers and their real estate agents is that there’s a shortage of attractive homes being offered for sale.”

Meanwhile, inventories of homes for-sale has fallen year-over-year levels in 26 of the markets realtor.com® monitors. Inventory levels fell the most in Detroit (by –30.2%); Boston (–28.9%), Denver (–25.1%), and San Francisco (–19.4%).